Warring Words-Der Spiegelreports on the raging controversy surrounding German Nobel laureate Günter Grass’s new poem, which is sharply critical of Israel. The poet has taken to the airwaves to defend himself, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined the fray Thursday. “Günter Grass’ shameful moral equivalence between Israel and Iran, a regime that denies the Holocaust and threatens to annihilate Israel, says little about Israel and much about Mr. Grass,” read a statement released by his office.

Unintended Consequences -Global Postwrites from Abyan Province in southern Yemen, where Al Qaeda’s ranks have swelled in the last year and at least five cities are now controlled by the terrorist group, causing the American and Yemeni governments to respond with a stealth bombing campaign. “…Some think the military assault might be aiding the terror group more than hurting it, sowing sympathy for the militants and anger toward the Americans,” concludes the website.

Headstrong Leader - Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, the Prime Minister of Somalia who was present at this week’s deadly bombing in Mogadishu, pens a first person account of the tragedy and why terrorism won’t disrupt his country’s turn for the better on Foreign Policy‘s website. Under the headline “We’re Winning This Fight,” he writes: “The next four months represent the greatest opportunity we have had for a settlement in Somalia since the collapse of the state in 1991.”